Trojan War: Varying Interpretations Reflecting Research Paper

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This approach contrasts sharply to the constant calling out to the gods and the direct actions of the gods as presented in The Iliad. Especially when read as a piece of social and political commentary, as it was very likely intended when written and first performed, it becomes clear that at this point in their history the ancient Athenians placed greater emphasis and value on the actions of people rather than the actions of the god. Civic responsibility and humanitarian action are valued above brute militarism and religious devotion, showing a clear contrast from the values that are implied in even the most cursory reading of The Iliad. Though both of these works come from ancient Greece, there was obviously a great deal of change in the cultural values and perceptions of the Greeks during the intervening centuries.

Troy

Several more centuries -- millennia, in fact -- later, the Trojan War was once again revisited by performance artists. This time, it is filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen that develops his stylistic interpretation of the events of the war, again clearly demonstrating the values of the culture of which Troy is a part. There is little focus on the gods, but there is a definite focus on militarism and other extreme versions of traditionally masculine characteristics.

The Iliad, despite its clear insistence on the supremacy of the gods' wills and actions, also quite clearly makes heroes of the mortal warriors of each army -- Hector and Achilles stand out specifically, but many others can also be named.

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Troy keeps this spirit of the complete veneration of its heroes, but without the tempering influence of the gods' clear direction of the action, making utter and unequivocal heroes out of the symbols of virility and masculinity that these heroes become. The camera becomes the main substitute for the pen in Petersen's film, and the way in which the bronzed and muscled bodies of both the men and women in this film are fetishized by the lingering focus of many of the shots in the film reveals the overall thrust and emphasis of the filmmaker and the culture that produced this work. The heroes themselves have become objects of direct worship, without any greater forces or entities within them or outside of them providing a grander recipient of such attention. One could even suggest that many of the stars of this film occupy similar roles in the real world society, also worshipped as the gods once were despite the lack of real substance that makes this worship ore rational and understandable.

Conclusion

The Trojan War occurred, probably, many thousands of years in the past. It continues to shape our society, however, both through the chain of direct effects of the wars outcome and through the return to the war as a source for literature and cultural mythology, as the three works described herein clearly show.

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